


Drops of Jupiter

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Rewrite of the Series using Altean!Pidge, Bamf Pidge, Based on a Tumblr Post, Galra!Keith, Gen, altean!holt family, altean!pidge, implied shatt - Freeform, she/her pronouns for pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:53:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7697401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You don’t care because they’re different!” The girl shouted in English, glaring at the commander of the dreaded military base. Iverson rose an eyebrow, and looked at the guards holding the alien.</p>
<p>–•–•–</p>
<p>« the altean!pidge au that i saw on tumblr and had to write. »</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drops of Jupiter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had actually written this draft a while back, but i was incredibly unsatisfied with the result, so i rewrote the beginning and the end of the chapter because i was just so unhappy with it. but here it is––the altean!pidge au.
> 
> credits for the au go to jakehercydraws, and the transcript for the dialogue used was from voltron wiki. there may be some minor differences, but besides that, everything is essentially the same. it's a rewrite of the series, but using altean!pidge. the dialogue will be mostly the same, but that's it.
> 
> this has got to be the longest thing i've ever written. damn.
> 
> main tumblr: nearly-witching  
> (don't be afraid to pm me!!)  
> pidge-dedicated tumblr: theforestpaladin  
> ––  
> u can follow me on ig too; nearlywitching / renegadepidge

shes beauty shes grace shes part of nearly extinct alien race

  

* * *

 

**« o n e ; “ t h e • r i s e • o f • v o l t r o n • [ p a r t • o n e ] ” »**

 

Altea was a land she could barely remember. By Earth standards, she was only five years old, but she _knew_ she was older than a middle aged human. 

 

Aging was interesting. The planets in the Voltron Alliance all aged relatively the same way, with 1,200 years being the expected age of an Elder. But the planet _Earth,_ aging happened decades faster. She was only fifty-seven, but from what she could tell, fifty-seven year old _humans_ were already beginning to frail. 

 

Life expectancies on Earth discouraged her from making friends. The only friends she could have were either non-sentient or animals with prolonged life expectancies. She owned many turtles, cacti, and she often created her own friends. 

 

Her family was one of high-class, so she had been exposed to a lot of machinery ever since she was a baby. She had a room in the Castle of Lions, and she knew Altean technology like the back of her hand. The markings on her cheekbones were proof of her status, and she knew those markings _did not_ mark her as Altean nobility on Earth.

 

Here, she was a strange creature. She was _strange, shunned,_ and _ignored._ Ever since the first child had spotted her and her brother playing with their marks out for the world to see, mangles of small humans began to throw strange, white balls with yellow spots inside of them at the walls of their home. 

 

It wasn’t until they were discovered by the “government,” that the feelings of being _different_ began to really take hold. 

 

_The Holt Family_ , her father had renamed them. She had been renamed _Katie Holt._ By this point in her life, she was one hundred and seven years old. She looked to be only ten, and no one had suspected her family for five decades. The small humans that had once _egged_ the walls of their home were now on the edge of their life, and Katie wasn’t even half way done with hers. 

 

_Katie Holt_ had a lovely brother named _Matthew_. Their father was an astrobiologist named _Samuel_ , and his wife was the sweet _Linda Holt_. They seemed to be an average “American” family, but it wasn’t farther from the truth. Her father and mother had both managed to use the Altean power of limited shapeshifting to appear to be normal humans, but those abilities had not yet kicked in for neither Matt nor Katie. 

 

A strange vehicle Katie had only seen on the _television_ that her father bought had pulled up to their property. It looked to be important, and when her father opened the door and saw people with glasses, ear-pieces and serious expressions he immediately straightened his back and looked at them with a serious expression of his own. 

 

“Are you... _Samuel Holt?”_ the one in the front had asked. He had one closed eye and had a deep and raspy voice. Her father rose an eyebrow, but nodded his head. The one-eyed man looked over the family delight.

 

“Lovely. Now, get your _alien_ family into our vehicles. We’re taking you to the Garrison.” 

  

* * *

 

 

“–– these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission! ” Iverson said, glaring at the three cadets.

 

_Pidge_ felt her ears itch uncomfortably under her hat. She spoke.

 

“That’s not true, Sir!” 

 

The same man that once banned her from the base she was standing on turned to her in angry surprise. “ _What_ did you say?!” Pidge was about to say something else before a hand covered her mouth. 

 

The pilot; Lance, had interrupted what she was going to say and put the attention on himself. He got a scolding from Iverson as well, before he excused the three of them and sent the next team into the simulation. Pidge glared at Iverson, and felt herself burn. She grumbled angrily, and didn’t notice the engineer and pilot begin to talk. She didn’t care. _That was a Galra ship. The Galra know that my family are the last Alteans alive._

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge panted softly. She had successfully made it to the roof tonight. She had accidentally cut it close; she almost left too early. She quickly set up her Earth equipment, sighing in relief as she plugged in her earbuds, being careful to put them underneath her hat.

 

That damned hat.

 

The pilot and the engineer were the only ones who had seen her without the hat, and it had been a complete accident. The pilot and engineer had entered her dorm without indication they were there. Luckily for Pidge, she had been putting on the coloured powder on her face, and she managed to hastily finish before they noticed the green markings underneath her eyes.

 

Her ears, however...

 

Hunk had gasped, and Lance had stared. She conjured a good-enough story; her ears had always been slightly deformed and were always rather pointy. She said she was insecure about them and used the hat to cover them up. They had both dropped it, understanding she didn’t want to talk about her physical “mistakes.”

 

Lance seemed fully convinced, but Pidge noticed Hunk was always a bit wary of her after that. 

 

She blocked her thoughts and put her full focus on the chatter. Pidge could not remember the language of Galra entirely, but it was definitely Galra. Messages that she could barely interpret... She closed her eyes and focused. 

 

It wasn’t until a tug at her earbuds and the voice of a familiar _pilot_ had interrupted her focus.

 

“You come up here to rock out?” Lance said quietly into Pidge’s ear through the brown hat. Pidge squealed in fear, hands flying to the hat to keep it in place as she turned around hastily. She glanced at the two boys, noticing Hunk crawling tentatively. 

 

Pidge’s heart rate slowed. “Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just... looking at the stars.” She said quietly, looking at both of them somewhat sheepishly. She felt nervous, and anxious. It felt like something was coming. Her tummy dropped.

 

“Man, where did you _get_ this stuff? It doesn’t look like Garrison tech,” Lance observed. His eyes examined the tech, and Pidge felt a small, self-satisfied smirk fell onto her face.

 

“I built it,” she proclaimed. She grinned, and carefully adjusted her hat. Hunk’s wide eyes fell on her.

 

“You built all of this?” He asked, leaning in to inspect the equipment. Pidge felt her tummy drop even further. She slapped his hand away from her tech.

 

“Ah, stop it!” She turned back to Lance. “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.” Her eyes widened––she messed up. Did humans refer to _all_ solar systems as solar systems? She wasn’t sure; she couldn’t remember. She panicked, but Lance and Hunk didn’t seem to notice. Lance raised an eyebrow.

 

“That right? All the way to _Kerberos?”_ Lance asked, watching Pidge for her reaction. Pidge felt a small groan come out. The dreaded moon that cost her her family. Lance looked at her like she was _insane._ “You go _ballistic_ every time the instructors bring it up! What’s your deal?” He pressed on. Pidge was about to answer when Hunk caught her eye. She glared at him, and the hand on her equipment loosened.

 

“Second warning, Hunk!” 

 

He audibly groaned, and Lance raised an eyebrow again, and scoffed quietly. “ Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any _secrets_.” He said pointedly. Pidge rolled her eyes. Her entire existence on this base was a secret! But she decided to speak up the _other_ info.

 

“Fine. The world as you know it is... about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake,” she began. The uncomfortable drop in her tummy intensified as she noticed a hand inch closer to her computer. _Hunk._ “Stop touching my equipment!” She growled, and felt both of their eyes on her.

 

Hunk groaned. Pidge sighed and then continued.

 

“So, I've been scanning the system and picking up... alien radio chatter,” she said with finality. Pidge didn’t like the word “alien.” Alien meant _different,_ from what she gathered. Iverson always referred to _Katie_ as an alien. She hated it. She heard Hunk’s voice, but paid no attention. Something had caught her eye. However, she was cut off from her thoughts when she heard Lance.

 

“Okay, so you’re insane. Got it.”

 

Pidge scowled. “I’m _serious._ They keep repeating one word–– _Voltron._ And tonight...” she remembered the text and chatter she inspected earlier. “It’s going crazier than I have _ever_ heard it.” 

 

She had a vague memory of _Voltron._ She knew the word, but she didn’t know _what it was,_ exactly. Five decades ago, she would have remembered clearly. Now, all she remembers was something _green––_

 

“Oo, how crazy?” Lance prompted. Pidge opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by the intercom. 

 

“Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”

 

The object that had caught Pidge’s eye before––it was closer. She squinted, adjusting the glasses perched on her nose. She grabbed her binoculars, and heard Hunk vaguely ask what it was. Pidge gasped.

 

“It’s a ship––ah!” She yelped, suddenly face-to-face with Lance’s under chin. She felt her hat begin to slip. She slinked out of the position, letting go of her homemade binoculars and adjusting her hat. 

 

“Holy crow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing; that’s _not_ one of ours!” Lance cried, peeling his gaze away from the enhanced sight and watching the ship descend onto the ground. Pidge felt her tummy drop to rock bottom. _This..._ It looked so familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it... 

 

Wait.

 

The ship had a purple and black tone to it––the opposite-but-complimentary of the Altean colour scheme... _It was Galra._

 

“No... it’s one of _their’s._ ” Pidge hardened, but felt a smile of deviousness fall onto her face non-consensually. “We’ve got to see that ship!” She had a feeling in her gut telling her to _run,_ that it wasn’t safe, but Pidge readily ignored it. She stood up, hurriedly putting her things in her backpack and made a run to get a closer look. She heard both Lance and Hunk speak, but she ignored them.

 

* * *

 

 

She glared at her computer screen, and typed something rapidly. _There has to be_ ** _something_** _in there that I can connect to..._

 

“...who the heck is _she?”_ she heard Lance say. Pidge scowled, smacking the boy. He made a noise of pain. “Ow! Right, alien ship. Man, we’ll never get past all of those guards to get a look.” Lance said, an air of disappointment in his voice. 

 

“Aw, man. Yeah, yeah, I guess there’s nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?” Hunk responded, faux-sympathy in his voice. The large boy made a turn to leave, but Pidge made a small noise of delight. Her screen flickered, and _boom._ The inside of a makeshift bay room was now in sight.

 

“Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!” Pidge exclaimed quietly. Lance slid next to her and Hunk leaned down to see. 

 

“Hey! What are you doing?” said a man that was strapped to a bed, clearly in distress. He was dressed in rags, and he appeared to be scarred and slightly unstable. He looked like a prisoner. Pidge squinted her eyes at him.

 

“Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you.” Iverson said, ignoring the state of the man in front of him. Pidge glared at the military-man through the screen. Iverson was truly the epitome of zero-sympathy.

 

“You have to listen to me! They destroy _worlds_!” The man; _Shiro_ said, grunting and struggling to get out of the restraints. “Aliens are coming!” He claimed, continuing to make sounds of struggle. Pidge’s eyes widened–– _the Galra were coming._ Were they coming for her? For Voltron?

 

Lance interrupted her from her slight panic. “That’s Shiro! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy’s my hero!” He exclaimed, gesturing to Iverson like he was a madman, his eyes on the restrained pilot. Hunk looked (and sounded) confused. Pidge’s ears twitched a little. _Kerberos..._

 

“Guess he’s not dead in space, after all.” Hunk said thoughtfully, deep in thought.

 

Pidge, despite herself knowing the probable answer, bit her lip. “Where’s the rest of the crew?” She asked quietly. No one answered. _They’re Alteans,_ she thought bitterly. _The Galra have most likely imprisoned them for interrogation._

  
  
“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” Iverson pressed. Shiro looked like he was close to trying to throttle Iverson, which Pidge would have _paid_ to see.

  
  
“I don’t know. Months? Years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a... _weapon_. They're probably on their way; they’ll destroy us! We have to find Voltron.” Shiro said, trying to faze the medics. They didn’t respond. Pidge’s eyes brightened and her ears twitched again.

  
  
“Voltron!” She exclaimed, delighted she was right and that the Galra weren’t coming for her.

  
  
Her slight happiness was interrupted by a medic inside the bay. “Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.” Pidge stared at the metal arm, gazing at the obvious Galra tech. Her tummy fell.

  
  
“Put him under until we know what that thing can do.” Iverson declared. Pidge rolled her eyes. _Of course that’s how he deals with the problem at hand._

  
  
“No, no, no––no; don't put me under! No, no! There's no time! Let me go!” Shiro exclaimed, trying to escape from the medic bed. Pidge looked away from the camera feed, the gears in her brain beginning to turn. As an off comment, she spoke: “They didn’t ask about the rest of the crew.” _Of course they didn’t. Iverson knows they’re aliens._

 

“What are they doing? The guy’s a legend, they’re not even gonna listen to him?” Lance said, mildly outraged. Pidge looked at the crashed ship determinedly. Her eyes met with Lance.

 

“We have to get him out,” she said strongly. Lance nodded softly. Hunk looked at the ship nervously before he broke the silence.

 

“Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren’t we just watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?” Hunk asked tentatively; gesturing wildly, as if he was waiting for Pidge or Lance responded. Lance beat her to the punch, answering Hunk with “That was before we were properly motivated. We’ve just got to think. Could we tunnel in?” 

 

Pidge glanced at the bay, before grinning a little. “Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs,” She glanced at Hunk with a small smirk on her face. Lance frowned, most likely contemplating the choice.

 

“Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary––little late-night snack.” Hunk said, trying to divert the other two from going into the makeshift bay with the unstable pilot inside.

 

“...No, what we need is a distraction.” Lance said, ignoring Hunk. 

 

A flash of red and orange flashed behind the bay, a loud noise popped everyone’s ear drums, and all three of them let out screams. Hunk cowered in fear, shaking on his knees on the floor. _Explosions._ Pidge remembered those well.

 

“Is that the aliens?I-Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” Hunk whimpered, slightly hiding his face in his arms. Pidge saw something––a _human._ She stood up rapidly, and gasped.

 

“No, those explosions _were_ a distraction, for him! The Garrison’s headed toward the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side!” Pidge exclaimed, pointing to a boy with a red jacket. Lance let out a rather _offended_ gasp.

 

“No way! Oh, he is _not_ going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!” Lance growled, racing into the bay. Hunk and Pidge glanced at each other, confused expressions on both of their faces. Pidge readjusted her hat, and stood up abruptly, shoving her equipment in to her backpack.

 

“Who is it?” Hunk yelled as Lance began his descent into the bay. Lance shouted back a name–– _Keith._

 

_“Who?!”_ Pidge asked, now confused. She had never heard _that_ name before.

 

“Are you sure?” Hunk asked cautiously. Lance responded like a hotshot.“Oh, I’d recognise that mullet _anywhere!”_ Lance said. Pidge was still lost.

 

“Who’s Keith?!”

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge didn’t know what to say when Lance barged inside the bay and forcibly took Shiro’s other arm from Keith. She watched in fascination as the two interacted. Once they finished their semi-argument, all five of them made their way outside of the bay. Pidge and Hunk both scouted the bay, and with Pidge’s binoculars, they spotted the Garrison.

 

“Oh, man. They’re coming back and they _do not_ look happy. We’ve got to go.” He looked at Keith nervously, his voice filled with panic. Pidge could relate. She gripped one of the sides of her hat. “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” 

 

Hunk climbed onto Keith’s ride, and the entire vehicle fell with Hunk’s weight. Pidge let out a small yelp, before asking, “Is this _thing_ going to be big enough for all of us?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “No.” He and Lance draped Shiro onto the vehicle and his torso was now in Pidge’s grasp. Keith climbed onto the driver’s seat, and they immediately began to hover until they finally took off, the Garrison now hot on their trail.

 

Pidge looked down at the unconscious man in her arms. “Why am I holding this guy?” She asked. No one answered her. 

 

“Hey, we did all fit,” Hunk commented thoughtfully, a tone of strange happiness rolling off of his tongue casually. 

 

Lance, being the ever-unsatisfied person he was, began to complain. “Can’t this thing go any faster?” He asked, noting the Garrison was now catching up to the vehicle that had been slowed down with all the new passengers. Pidge gripped Shiro a little tighter.

 

“We could toss out some non-essential weight,” Keith said impassively, tightening his hold on the handlebars. His off-hand comment almost flew over the fighter-pilot’s head.

 

“Oh, right!” Lance looked around. “...Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.” Lance said, semi-bitterly. The Garrison was very close to catching up with them, and Pidge _now_ began to panic. They would get into so much trouble if they were captured––

 

“Big man, lean left!” Keith shouted, interrupting Pidge from her train of thought. Hunk, and everyone else sans Shiro, braced themselves as Hunk leaned left, and the entire vehicle followed suite. Everyone gasped, and the Garrison drivers behind them crashed into one another. Hunk looked behind himself giddily.

 

“Aw, man! Mr. Harris just _wiped out_ Professor Montgomery! No, no. He’s fine.” Hunk said excitedly. 

 

Pidge was very confused on _how_ and _why_ Hunk was making calm and _excited_ comments now, when he was panicking at the mere thought of sneaking into the bay in the first place. She ignored it in favour of panicking as the Garrison began to catch up again.

 

“Big man, lean right!” Keith shouted again, making the turn himself as well.

 

The three extra (conscious) passengers let out another par of screams as they fell onto a different trail in the rocky canyon terrain.

 

“Guys? I-I-I-Is that a cliff up ahead?” Hunk stammered, pointing ahead of the vehicle. Pidge gripped Shiro tighter with her right hand and held onto her hat with her left.

 

“Oh, no, no, no!” Lance shrieked.

 

“Yup.” Keith said. Pidge didn’t even _need_ to see the satisfied smirk that was obviously on his face. She scowled slightly, but another bump and view into the canyon knocked some sense into her.

 

“No, no, no!” She and Hunk both screamed. Suddenly, they weren’t even _on_ the canyon anymore, and the wind in Pidge’s face had died out for about two seconds. Her left hand held down her hat and the entire vehicle caved down the cliff. 

 

They were all screaming, sans Keith who had a damn smile on his face and Shiro who wasn’t even awake.

 

Lance was the only one who managed to speak. “What are you doing? You’re going to kill us all!” He shouted as they descended down the cliff, gravity eagerly pulling them downward. Pidge braced herself for impact.

 

“Shut up and trust me!” Keith shouted, and at the last second, he pulled upward, which gave them enough force to continue moving forward smoothly. The Garrison vehicles were stuck above the cliff; their’s were not going to make the slight ascend Keith’s could.

 

_They made it._

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge was dazed as Shiro and Keith had their conversation. _Blue lion,_ ** _Blue lion..._** She racked her brain for any thing she could _possibly_ remember, but nothing came to her. It was all familiar, but she just couldn’t remember. She was frustrated. It was as if the words were tickling her memories enough to make them chuckle, but not enough to make them actually _laugh_ loud enough to notice.

 

She looked up in surprise as Shiro faced them and extended his mechanical arm towards Lance. “I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?” 

 

Pidge didn’t miss the look of hesitation and awe on Lance’s face when he touched Shiro’s hand. Pidge remembered what Lance said the previous night–– “ _That guy’s my hero!”_

 

Shiro extended the same arm towards Hunk after he shook with Lance, but Hunk, ever the nervous fellow, was too anxious to realise Shiro wanted to shake his hand. She did it for him. She gripped his hand instead, feeling her pores realise moisture.

 

“The nervous guy’s Hunk. I’m Pidge,” she said, introducing herself in a calm manner despite how nervous she actually was. She voiced the question she had been waiting to ask: “So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?”

 

The answer she dreaded wasn’t what came out, but the feeling of slight horror filled her anyway.

 

Shiro hesitated. “I’m not sure. I remember the mission... and being captured. After that, it’s just... bits and pieces,” Shiro said, tensing as if he was trying to remember. Pidge’s face fell.

 

Hunk finally voiced his thoughts. “Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like––where are they at this very moment?” He asked anxiously. The three others in the room glanced at Shiro curiously.

 

“I can’t really put it together.” He looked pained. “I remember the word _Voltron_. It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don't know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.” He said, glancing at Hunk.

 

“Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge’s stuff, and I found this picture. Look, it’s his girlfriend.” He chuckled, and Pidge _immediately_ panicked. That wasn’t a picture of her “girlfriend––” it was the only photo she had of herself with her darling brother. They both had ears exposed and markings out for the world to see. She hoped Hunk didn’t notice.

 

“Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?” Pidge said in a slightly panicked voice, snatching both her backpack and the precious photo from Hunk. She looked at it with a protective look on her face.

 

“I––well, I was looking for a candy bar,” Hunk said to Pidge. Pidge rolled her eyes. _Classic Hunk._ “But, then, I started reading his diary––” 

 

Pidge’s panic returned. Out of habit, she sometimes _wrote_ in Altean! Even if she couldn’t understand what she was writing, she still _could._ What if Hunk picked up on that?! He was already wary, and after this––! “What?!” She exclaimed, reaching out for the book. She snatched the diary out of Hunk’s hands as well. He continued his tale. “And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks _a lot_ like a Fraunhofer line––”

 

“Frown, _who_?” Keith interrupted, facing Hunk with a confused expression evident on his face.

 

Hunk answered like he asked him _what’s 2+2?_ “It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think can build a machine to look for it, kind of like a... Voltron Geiger counter.”

 

Lance grinned. “Hunk, you big, gassy genius!” He exclaimed.

 

Hunk pulled out a folded paper from his pocket. “It’s pretty fascinating, really. The, the wavelength looks like this,” he gestured to the paper, now unfolded, and Pidge was about to move to get a look.

 

Keith beat her to it. “Give me that!” He said, grabbing the paper and lifting it up to compare to one of the posters he had on his _blue lion shrine._ Pidge tilted her head, putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge started at the display for her. She had never really looked at the Earth in an admiring way. It had always just been another planet that could sustain life. But... even Pidge could admit this was a beautifully terrifying sight.

 

“Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky,” Lance breathed out in slight awe.

 

Hunk looked down at his “Voltron geiger counter.” A quiet beep came out of it. “I’m getting a reading.” Hunk declared, moving forward. Pidge held the “Voltron sensor,” and walked with the large boy.

 

The beeping got louder and louder, until the group came across a large, rocky cave outlined in lion carvings. _Just like Keith said._ Pidge felt an inkling of a memory speak inside of her, but as soon as it came, it was gone.

 

“Whoa.” Hunk and Pidge both whispered.

* * *

 

 

“What are these?” Shiro asked, his eyes caressing the wall. The lion carvings didn’t react––wait. _How did I know they’re supposed to react?! I’m so confused._ Pidge thought. She grabbed at her hat, frustrated. Her ears began to twitch in annoyance. 

 

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They’re everywhere around here.” Keith said quietly. Pidge stared at the walls, and the hole in her tummy seemed to increase. She didn’t know what to do. She still had the sensor in her hand, but her own eyes wandered to see Lance’s hand graze the wall. The carvings in the stone began to glow a faint blue.

 

“Hmm––Whoa. Whoa!” Lance stammered in shock. He pulled back in surprise, and a blue symbol underneath their feet began to glow. Pidge _felt_ like this was natural, but she didn’t know _why._ Her ears began to twitch rapidly, and Pidge was suddenly very frustrated. Keith’s voice interrupted her

 

“They’ve never done that before,” Keith mumbled. The ground beneath their feet crumbled, and screaming most definitely ensued. Pidge felt herself being pulled onto Hunk’s shoulders, and she dropped the _voltron sensor_ in favour of wrapping her arms around the hat she kept on her head.

 

All of them let out loud screams of both shock and fear, until they finally collided with the ground, splashing in a plethora of water to slightly soften the impact. Before Pidge could collect her thoughts, she heard Lance speak.

 

“They _are_ everywhere...” Lance gasped, and Pidge herself looked up. Just as the carvings foretold... _a blue lion..._ It was large, mechanical, and it looked extremely familiar. Everything was starting to feel like a wave of deja vu. She stood up and took an anxious step forward.

 

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge asked quietly, gaping at the lion. She gripped her backpack strap with her right hand and her hat flap with her left.

 

“It must be,” Shiro breathed, awestruck.

 

“This is what’s been causing all of this crazy energy out here. Looks like there’s a force field around it,” Keith whispered, walking forward towards the large mechanical cat. Pidge could tell Keith was in awe of the huge discovery. Lance moved quicker to catch up to the impulsive boy, and Pidge continued walking with Hunk and Shiro.

 

“Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” Lance asked impassively. Shiro made a noise of disagreement. “Yeah... The eyes are _totally_ following me,” Lance mused, moving side-to-side. Eventually, Keith made it to the front of the forcefield. 

 

“I wonder how we get through this,” Keith mumbled, putting his hand onto the blue field. It didn’t seem to cause him any harm, which wasn’t surprising––

 

Pidge felt her ears itch in frustration. _Why was she remembering things like this?!_ She was beginning to get angry. The memories would resurface for a brief second before sinking under the murky water that was her thoughts. She vaguely heard Lance suggest something before tapping the blue forcefield himself. 

 

To her (and everyone’s) surprise, the field around the lion had gone down. The lion seemed to _draw them in_ and Pidge felt herself moving without her consent. She yelped out in shock, feeling her tummy drop again. 

 

Suddenly, a vision had implanted itself into her mind. Five _lions,_ and they were flying in formation with an aura of colour surrounding them. They seemed to _fuse_ together and they combined into an awe-striking, humongous robot. It made Pidge uneasy.

 

“Whoa.” Lance and Pidge whispered. _Voltron..._

 

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” Lance asked, shaking slightly. Hunk jumped, suddenly _very_ “pumped.”

 

“Voltron is a _robot_. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!” Hunk shouted giddily, waving his arms about wildly. Pidge put in her own two cents, swallowing the feelings of anxiety in her throat.

 

“And this thing is only one part of it!” She exclaimed, gripping the ends of her aviator hat. “I wonder where the rest of them are,” she wondered out loud. No one answered her. Pidge decided it was time to get used to no one answering her questions.

 

“This is what they’re looking for,” Shiro said quietly. Pidge tensed. _The Galra are after Voltron._ Pidge, despite not having a clear memory of everything, shuddered. If the Galra were looking for it, that means it was dangerous to them. And that was _good._

 

“Incredible.” Keith breathed, taking in the sight. The lion decided to let out a roar and opened it’s mouth widely, leaning downward. A walkway opened and emerged from the lion in front of Lance, prompting him to walk inside. The boy chucked before walking inside.

 

Pidge instantly began to follow.

 

* * *

 

 

“––there’s Kerberos.” 

 

The moment Pidge heard that name, she clenched her hat harshly. With the Galra now on their trail and the dreaded moon to her right, it made her want to get out there and destroy the moon herself. She opted against it, instead feigning surprise. Since the ship she was now on was definitely not native to Earth, it made sense it could travel across solar systems extremely quickly.

 

“It takes _months_ for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in... _five seconds_!” Pidge exclaimed. She wanted to say _ticks,_ but knew it would be strange. She clenched her fist, feeling her nails dig into her skin. A loud humming noise startled her, and she looked up, only to be very surprised at what it was.

 

A large, purple-black _portal_ she only saw in her dreams had appeared before her and everyone else in the blue lion. To create rips in the fabric of the universe... that was magic that ran in the blood of an _Altean,_ or maybe Druids. But if an Altean could hone their magic ability and use the correct technology, an Altean could create wormholes to anywhere in the universe. _Did I cause this?_ Pidge wondered wildly. _Impossible! I don’t have any Altean technology around me, and I haven’t even_ ** _practiced_** _magic since the evacuation!_

 

“What _is_ that?” Hunk gasped, looking at he wormhole in crazed surprise. 

 

“Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!” Lance said loudly, making sure both Shiro and Keith could hear in the back of the lion’s _slightly_ cramped head. The same thought must have passed through everyone’s mind before Pidge voiced it.

 

“Where does it go?”

 

Lance faltered. “I-I don’t know,” He turned his gaze to the man with the metal arm. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?” He looked to Shiro in slight fear. Lance had been playing the overconfidence game, but Pidge could tell the situation was getting to him the same way it was getting to everyone else.

 

Shiro hesitated. “Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.” 

 

Pidge glanced at the boys, and determinedly, she placed her hand on Lance’s shoulder in both support and reassurance. She used her other hand to grip the flap on her hat, steadying it. It had been her tether throughout everything. Lance sucked in a breath.

 

“Alright, guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow.”

 

Lance maneuvered the lion into the wormhole.

 

The entire lion begun to vibrate and it was a _very_ bumpy ride. It took a few seconds, but after the buzz was gone, they were faced with an entirely different part of the vast universe. Lance was the first to speak.

 

“ _Whoa_. That was...” He trailed off, and Pidge could easily relate. She had no words for what was happening; it all felt so _surreal._ Everyone was disrupted from their confused awe with a grunt.

 

Hunk’s bodily fluids had finally made their reappearance. “So sorry,” he breathed as quickly as he could before the retching noises returned. Pidge adjusted her glasses, closing her eyes. Her ears began to straighten up, which worried Pidge. They’ve never moved this much in a span of only twenty-four hours.

 

“I’m just surprised it took this long,” Pidge quipped, letting Hunk puke another three times. The vast black void of space swallowed them all in, and it mesmerised Pidge. It had been _so long_ since she had been in the universe’s cold hug, and despite the dire circumstances, she couldn’t help feel like she was _home._

 

“I don’t recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth,” Shiro breathed, his eyes darting out to see the stars. Pidge looked down, and a planet that reminded her of the Earth was floating about, as planets do. It–– _Arus._ Pidge widened her eyes, but gripped the flaps of her aviator hat. She concentrated on the word, engraving it into her memory. _Arus, Arus, Arus––a planet inhabited with small creatures called Arusians._ She gasped in delight. **_She remembered._**

 

“The lion seems to want to go to this planet,” Lance whispered. Everyone crowded around him. Lance set the controls, moving downward onto the planet. “I think... I think it’s going home,” Lance murmured. The lion entered the atmosphere. His head shot back up in faux-annoyance. “Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me.”

 

Hunk ignored the claim in favour of questioning the situation. “Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion _anyway_?” He asked, his voice wavering. Pidge’s gaze turned over to him. 

 

“It got us away from that alien warship, didn’t it?” Lance snapped. Pidge rose an eyebrow; Lance seemed to be very protective of the lion.

 

Keith deposited his own two-cents. “I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re _in_ an alien warship,” he responded, hands curling in slightly. He looked uncomfortable with the mention of the words _alien warship,_ something Pidge could relate to.

 

“Oh, are you scared?” Lance mocked, a smirk dancing on his face. Keith’s eyes hardened, and his knuckles turned white as he clenched his hand tightly.

 

“With you at the helm? _Terrified_.”

 

Shiro intervened before a fight could brood. “Alright, knock it off. No one’s happy to be in this situation––” _Speak for yourself,_ Pidge thought. She was ecstatic: her seemingly repressed memory was returning to her. Now, if never, was the perfect time to seem happy. “––but we’re here now. If we want to get through this, we’ve got to do it together.”

 

Pidge, not trying to seem as happy as she was, asked a simple question implying confusion and loss. “So, what do we do?”

 

The black clad man seemed to revel in the leadership role, Pidge noticed. It made sense. He was a professional pilot, after all. “First, we find out where we’re headed,” He turned over to the boy currently in the driver’s seat, holding the controls anxiously. “Lance?”

 

Lance looked uncomfortable. He audibly gulped. “I... don’t know,” he admitted. His head darted side-to-side rather quickly. “I’m sorry. The lion’s not talking to me anymore,” Lance said dejectedly. “Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something,” he said, a small smirk on his lips. Pidge listened, but _instantly_ knew what was going on. She glanced at the boys, waiting to see how they reacted.

 

“I’m hearing it, too,” Keith said, looking around for the source.

 

“It’s, uh––It’s kind of a–a high-pitched squeal?” Hunk described. Suddenly, the boys realised what it was.

 

“Come on, Lance!” Everyone, including Pidge, groaned. Lance let out a laugh.

 

“But seriously, there’s a castle up ahead,” the fighter pilot said, pointing his head forward. Pidge snapped her gaze in the same direction, and gasped. It looked... _familiar._ Pidge gripped her hat again, taking a deep breath. Her organs felt like they suddenly made of lead. Her ears couldn’t stop twitching. 

 

“Wow,” the boys said in awe, looking at the castle. It looked to be made of _metal,_ and it had blue accents and lighting. If Pidge had to guess, if it were nighttime, the castle would be glowing. A slap of nostalgia that Pidge couldn’t grasp hit her suddenly. All of a sudden, it _did_ glow.

 

“Keep your guard up,” Shiro warned.

 

Pidge held her breath. “Something wrong?” She wondered. She hoped it was nothing. The nostalgia trying to drown her was grabbing her by the ankle and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to let go. She was curious and her ears _wouldn’t stop_ irritating her.

 

“My crew was captured by aliens once. I’m not going to let it happen again,” Shiro said, his voice hardening. Pidge looked down, and easily put two-and-two together. Shiro blamed himself for the Galra getting her family. 

 

Eventually, the lion settled itself on the ground, opening it’s mouth again and allowing the passengers to get onto the ground. Pidge took a shaky breath, feeling overwhelmed. Her ears were still annoying the crap out of her, and she felt like she was going to rip off her hat to itch at them. 

 

The blue lion then moved on its own and opened it’s mouth loudly. Pidge let out a startled yelp, as did everyone else.

 

“No, no! I knew it was going to eat us! No!” Hunk screeched, cowering in the lion’s presence and hiding himself in his arms. The lion let out a roar, making the very air around them tremble. The roar triggered _something_ in the castle, letting the doors in the front begin to glow a familiar blue and open slowly. Hunk looked up slowly. “ _Oh_ , the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you,” Hunk said, rubbing his arms sheepishly, lookingat the lion apologetically.

 

The group slowly made its way inside the castle, and Hunk let out a loud “Hello?!”, prompting in an echo. Pidge inspected the castle carefully, her ears still not letting up. A hand snuck inside her hat to scratch at her ears, trying to calm down their twitching.

 

“From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger.” Pidge murmured. Suddenly, a light above them sputtered to life. She looked up, and the lights moved downward and surrounded them. The light tingled her skin.

 

Everyone gasped as the castle _spoke_ to them. “Hold for identity scan.”

 

“What?” Pidge murmured, the light leaving behind a blue trail and scanning her body. Everything that was happening felt like a blur, but then she let out a small gasp. Shiro startled her by shouting: “Why are we here? What do you want with us?”

 

“Whoa!” Lance yelped, jumping a little. 

 

“Whoa,” Pidge whispered. Her ears had finally stopped moving, and she was beginning to shake. _She recognised this place._ She shakily pointed.

 

“I guess we’re going that way.”

 

Pidge walked in front of them all, trying to keep herself from shaking. Hunk continuously kept on hollering “Hello!” in hopes of someone––or _something_ ––answering him. Pidge paid no attention, and instead gripped the flaps of her hat with her left hand and put a finger on the skin under her eye, rubbing gently. _This... This is an Altean castle. This has to be the Castle of Lions._

 

Eventually, the lights lead the team into a large room. “Where are we?” Lance asked, marveling at the sights. Pidge clenched her fist. _The cryopod room._

 

“It’s.. some kind of control room,” she said, out of focus. Before her very eyes, two cryopods emerged from the ground and held two people inside. Pidge’s eyes widened. _There are people inside the Castle!_ Hunk was the first to speak.

 

“Are these guys... dead?” Hunk asked, shaking. Pidge was about to interject something, before on of the cryopods _opened._ Pidge gasped, and the blue screen hiding the person from view was finally in sight. She fell forward, and Pidge almost _screamed._

 

“Father!” gasped the person inside the cryopod. She had long, curly white hair and dark skin. Pidge _knew_ this being. _Princess._ She ignored the conversation Lance and the Princess were having in favour of staring past the princess with glazed eyes. She unconsciously rubbed at her ears in _shock._ Pidge tuned out everything being said; she was too busy being  _surprised_ and  _overwhelmed._

  

“––Your ears,” Pidge heard the Princess say. Pidge’s gaze snapped forward, and she pulled her hat downward to cover her face. 

 

“Yeah?” Lance said, turning to look at his own ears. Pidge gripped her hat tightly. _Holy quiznak._ She looked at the Princess again, and saw them clearly; _the markings. The ears._

 

“They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?” The Princess asked with a disgusted look on her face. Pidge let go of the hat and made a strange noise between a screech and a squeal. Hunk looked at her questioningly.

 

“Nothing’s wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!” Lance defended. The Princess quickly gripped his ear and forced him around, getting him on his knees. Lance screamed.

 

“Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?”

  
A flurry of emotions and memories fell onto Pidge’s shoulders. _King Alfor. Princess Allura. Planet Altea._ _The Castle of Lions._

 

“A giant blue lion brought us here! That’s all we know!” Lance screeched out in pain, tears of pain forming in his eyes. Pidge fell onto her own knees and felt the tears begin to fall. _Princess Allura... she’s_ ** _alive?!_** She felt the looks of her peers on her, but she didn’t care. She tried to collect her voice and reason her thoughts, but _couldn’t._ She was overwhelmed and felt like she was finally drowning under the memories. Allura was still preoccupied in injuring Lance, but then she stood up and looked around the room.

 

“How do _you_ have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?” Allura finally asked, looking at everyone in the room. Her eyes landed on Pidge last, and stared.

 

“We don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.” Shiro said, trying to pry information out of the princess. Pidge was shaking.

 

Allura took a deep breath. “I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea––” Pidge’s heart stopped beating for about five seconds. At least, that’s what it felt like. “––I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep.” Allura rushed over to the control panel. Pidge tried to speak.

 

Pidge managed to find her voice. “Arus,” Pidge said roughly. Allura stepped back, her guard up. Pidge tried to lift the hat off of her head, but couldn’t find the strength to do so. Instead she shakily stood up and rubbed her coloured powder away. “You’re on planet Arus. It’s inhabited by small creatures called Arusians,” Pidge knew she was stalling. She took a deep breath before feeling the tears come out even faster. “Y-You–You’re like _me!”_ She finally let out the retched sob she had trying to hold in.

 

She forced herself to look up at Allura, and the Princess gasped. No doubt about it; Allura could see her markings; the green dashes under her eyes that distinguished her as the child of Altean nobles. The coloured markings an Altean had signified class. A pink or blue mark flaunted royalty, green or purple marks flaunted noble class, while orange or yellow flaunted the working class.

 

Allura carefully lifted the hat off of the crying Altean before her. The ears; yes. This was one of her own. She covered her mouth with her hands. Pidge was sobbing and shaking, mumbling nearly-incoherent phrases as Allura kneeled down to pacify her own.

 

“I-It’s been ten-thousand years since I last saw someone from Altea that wasn’t my own family!” sobbed Pidge, shooting forward into Allura’s arms. Allura heard another cryopod open, but didn’t turn around. The sentence the small Altean had given her was sufficient enough to know where and when they were. 

 

Allura had been inactive for ten thousand years, and this small Altean had believed she and her family were the last Alteans alive. The small girl clinged onto Allura, and Allura spoke soft, reassuring sentences to the small girl as she distantly recalled the event that ended with her being frozen for ten thousand years.

 

Pidge managed to stop crying and lift herself from Allura. Impulsively, she began to ramble.

 

_“I’m sorry I ruined your dress! I-If I had money, I would pay for it, but I don’t! I can help you fix it. Or, I can fix it for you!”_ Pidge shouted, stepping back from Princess Allura and looking down. She was confused, scared, overwhelmed, and anxious. Allura gaped at the girl, and Hunk, Lance, Shiro, and Keith looked dazed and confused. Allura turned back to see her advisor standing in front of the cryopod. He, too looked surprised.

 

Pidge was nervous under all of the eyes on her. She shuffled from foot to foot before turning to the humans in the room. 

 

“ _I’m sorry I didn’t tell you_ ,” she murmured. Shiro broke from his daze first, and reached out to touch Pidge’s shoulder.

 

“Pidge, as much as I’d love to guess what you’re saying...”

 

“She can speak in _Altean?!”_ The male Altean sputtered. “Wait, you’re _an Altean?!_ How did you survive–– _wait_. Alfor only sent a handful of noble family out in the escape pods. You couldn’t be––Oh my!” Pidge glanced down at her shaking hands, clenching them and trying to hold back another wave of tears. 

 

“My father was an Altean royal scientist. If I recall correctly, he’s about four-hundred and twenty-eight years old,” Pidge said to the Royal Advisor. “I don’t remember my name, but I do know both my mother and father do. They said that if I stated my name... the Galra could track us down. Ever since, I’ve never heard an Altean name uttered. Until now...”

 

A red flashing. Pidge grimaced. “They can sense Princess Allura now that she has said her name. The Galra––they’re _coming._ ”


End file.
